We Were Promised Jetpacks, ‘In the Pit of the Stomach’ (FatCat)

Scotland’s current gang of catharsis-seeking sad bastards — Frightened Rabbit, the Twilight Sad, and these lads — score another win here. We Were Promised Jetpacks’ second album tightens the craggy fuzz of their first, revealing twisty post-punk songs with chewy pop centers. Only a couple of songs on 2009’s These Four Walls invited shout-alongs; this time they’re everywhere, from crashing opener “Circles and Squares” (“Life in a coma could be quite fun!”) to the bouncy “Medicine” (“Is this about me now?”) to dirge-y death ballad ?”Act on Impulse.” It’s lyrically somber, no doubt, ?but ultimately redemptive — like a healing calm after the storm.

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Alessandro Cortini tends to surround himself with darkness. The Italian producer is most infamous as a torturer of modular synths and other bleak electronics for Los Angeles’ most famous industrial-goths, Nine Inch Nails. His previous solo LP, Sonno, slinked out on Prurient’s Hospital Productions — a bastion of the crepuscular, if there ever was one. And… More »